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Tuesday, October 14, 2014
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STATE
CITY
Judge sets next Perry hearing date
City Council candidates debate needs of students
By Natalie Sullivan @natsullivan94
While Gov. Rick Perry’s attorneys argued the criminal case against the governor should be dismissed, Judge Bert Richardson refused to rule on pretrial motions Monday in Perry’s absence and set a hearing date for Oct. 31.
Perry’s attorneys said the judge should order the prosecution, led by special prosecutor Michael McCrum, to produce transcripts of the grand jury testimony so Richardson can review previous requests to dismiss the indictment. They also want a review of McCrum’s oath when he was sworn in to assume Travis County
District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg’s responsibilities, which Perry’s attorneys claim was not filed correctly. Richardson said Perry will have to appear in court to resolve these issues and will have to be present at any hearing that is not just a procedural matter. Perry did not appear in court Monday because of a ruling
by Richardson on Sept. 26 that permitted him to skip the hearing. “Based on what’s been filed, I can’t see how we can go forward without resolving this,” Richardson said. It’s unusual for defense attorneys to request transcripts of grand jury testimony, according
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By Jackie Wang @jcqlnwng
Rick Perry
Texas governor
UNIVERSITY
UT creates new financial security steps By Eleanor Dearman @ellydearman
Students will have to go through additional login steps to access their financial information on the University’s website starting Oct. 27. Using the mobile app “Toopher,” developed by UT students in the Austin Technology Incubator, the personal financial information of students, faculty and staff will be inaccessible without an approval given on the phone app, said C.W. Belcher, associate director of Information Technology Services Applications. This process is a type of twofactor identification, a process requiring two steps to identify a person before viewing confidential information. “One factor is knowledge,” said Mark Barber, assistant director of the University’s Financial Information System, at the Oct. 7 Student Government meeting. “You know your
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Sarah Montgomery | Daily Texan Staff
Robert Zimmerman, sociology and economics senior, works in the computer lab in the Perry-Casteñeda Library on Monday evening. Starting Oct. 27, a new system will be implemented requiring an additional step for students to access their financial information.
CAMPUS
Austin City Council District 9 candidates discussed student issues such as transportation and housing at a debate hosted by several student organizations on campus Monday night. Under the council’s new 10ONE structure — which will go into effect in January — District 9 covers parts of campus, West Campus, North Campus, Hyde Park, downtown Austin and South Congress. During the debate, candidates talked about their connections with college students. Council member Kathie Tovo, who earned a doctorate. from UT, listed her student involvement during her undergraduate years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an example of being able to connect with students. “When I came here 23 years ago to go to the University of Texas, I had an opportunity to work with hundreds of students over the years,” Tovo said. “I taught classes, served on the graduate assembly for a term.” Council member Chris Riley also used his opening statement to show his connection to UT. “I was born in West Campus, a long, long time ago,” Riley said. “My dad was a professor here at UT in the physics department. I came back here for UT law school
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Grad student discusses image Researchers improve transistors of black women on television By Arianna Guerra @ariewar08
By Adam Hamze @adamhamz
While many viewers praise ABC’s television show “Scandal” for being the first prime-time drama to cast a black woman as a protagonist in nearly 40 years, doctoral candidate Nicole Martin said she believes the show would not be nearly as popular if it were not for the sexualization of the protagonist. Martin, who is a graduate student in the Department of Theatre and Dance, led a discussion Monday as the first installment of her three-part series, “Screening Blackness: Television, Film and Race.” The event focused on the misrepresentation of black women in television. “Scandal”’s plot revolves around Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington, who heads a crisis management firm for high-profile clients, while also hiding an affair with the current president, who is white. The show, which navigates through is-
Stephanie Tacy | Daily Texan Staff
Nicole Martin, Theatre and Dance doctoratal candidate, discusses the role black women play in television by analyzing the show “Scandal” in Jester Center on Monday afternoon.
Several researchers, including a UT professor and graduate student, have found a molecular-scaled “Band-Aid” to fix nanotube defects on transistors. Ananth Dodabalapur, electrical and computer engineering professor, and Seonpil Jang, electrical and computer engineering graduate student, are using carbon nanotubes and polar molecular polymers to improve the conductivity of transistors. “There is a great deal of interest in making new kinds of transistors with new material,” Dodabalapur said. “The transistor we would be creating would be good for display drivers and larger electronics like sensors. Silicon — the more commonly used material — is good but has some limitations, so we are looking at all kinds of new material.” Dodabalapur and several UT students are working with Mark Hersam, materials science and engineering professor from Northwestern University, who is able to sort the nanotubes and
get 99 percent semiconducting fractions. Hersam then sends the purified nanotube transistors to UT. “My lab specializes in low dimensional electronic materials, including highly purified semiconducting carbon nanotubes,” Hersam said in an email. “My lab utilizes a method called density gradient ultracentrifugation to separate carbon nanotubes by their physical and electronic structure.” The nanotubes work efficiently, but they still have defects that hurt the properties of the material, according to Dodabalapur. “The defect causes the nanotubes to not behave as well, and we’ve found molecules that can detach that defect,” Dodabalapur said. “We’ve found a molecular scale ‘Band-Aid’ to fix the defects and impurities and essentially neutralize them. As a result, they behave a lot better. This ‘Band-Aid’ is hard to find, and it’s hard to apply to most semiconductors. The reason it worked for nanotubes is because they are either a flat sheet or rolled up flat sheet of carbon.”
We tried to overcome the limitation utilizing that polymer. So, now we are focusing on flexible display because we can apply instant printing. —Seonpil Jang, Electrical and computer engineering graduate student
According to Dodabalapur, this “Band-Aid” can be any polar molecule. The molecular structure goes to the defects in nanotubes and repairs them. Jang said the polymer made the transistors better conductors. “Our lab is focused on instant-printing electronic devices, but there are challenges from the process,” Jang said. “We tried to overcome the limitation utilizing that polymer. So, now we are focusing on flexible display because we can apply instant printing.”
sues such as race and gender, began its fourth season last month, and the season premiere was viewed by 12.2 million people, according to TV Nielsen Ratings. According to Martin, the show’s popularity can be attributed to how Pope’s career is heavily influenced by her sexual relationship with her superior — as opposed to her leadership or intelligence. Martin said a black woman should be able to
control the narrative of her own sexuality. “People aim to construct and name black women’s sexuality,” Martin said. “Their position in society as a respectable black woman requires her to shield her sexuality.” The Nielsen Ratings reported an average of 3.6 million “Scandal” viewers are black, but Martin also said
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
ONLINE
REASON TO PARTY
LBJ School panel talks about foreign aid. PAGE 3 UT professor discusses linguistic’s history. PAGE 3
Vote for Van de Putte for lieutenant governor. PAGE 4
Starting center accepts new challenges. PAGE 6
Austin roller derby team advances to league final. PAGE 8
Letter: Fair-weather Longhorn fans need not apply. PAGE 4
Undefeated Women’s Club Soccer team shines. PAGE 6
Lena Dunham stops in Austin for book tour. PAGE 8
Feeling uninformed? Then make your way to The Daily Texan’s website, where you can read all the latest campus news. dailytexanonline.com
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